Posted By Nick Higginson Judy, There is no real need for a policy on footwear. As with all PPE, the need for safety footwear should be based on the outcome of risk assessment. You don't have to provide PPE for the sake of it, only if there is a foreseeable risk of injury. I get tired of continuing comments about the H&S Advisor not wearing safety footwear, like it's one of the ten commandments or something. To repeat, if there's no risk, you don't need it! Hope this helps, Regards, Nick

Posted By Nick Higginson Jim, There will always be "bizarre" occurrences. Should we walk around in cotton wool suits just in case? Your accident has stayed in your mind because it happened to you. Callous though it may seem, we have to accept that some people are going to be injured. The point in risk assessment and good risk management is to identify and control "foreseeable" risks. When the risk is not serious, some element of reasonable practicability must apply. It is only through properly managing foreseeable business risks that we can remove the myth of health & safety being "overly-beuracratic" and an uneccessary expense. Kind regards, Nick

Posted By Laurie Jim's accident reminds me of an earlier incident I had to investigate. A car engine was mounted in a test jig, and when the ignition was turned on the battery exploded, sending acid everywhere. Subsequent investigation revealed an internal short in the battery had caused a spark, igniting the hydrogen/oxygen mixture in the battery. The amount of distilled experience available was something in excess of 100 years, but only one person could ever remember this happening before, some 25 years earlier. I had a great deal of difficulty persuading my managers not to bring in a rule requiring everybody present when an engine was being started to wear face visor, apron, boots, gloves etc., including starting where the engine was still in the car, and the bonnet was open! As has been said - do the risk assessment, and remember the definition of "reasonably practicable." Blanket solutions help nobody, least of all the health and safety cause! In my particular case even the most pessmistic risk assessment would not have asssessed once in 25 years a "significant" risk, tho' in the nuclear power industry this would probably be unacceptable! As ever the risk assessment is all. Laurie